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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28871196">count my fingers, not the thumbs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarflowers/pseuds/interstellarflowers'>interstellarflowers</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>&lt;33, 4 Things, Airports, Café, Canon Compliant, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Long-Distance Friendship, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, does 4 + 1 exist, for neil's birthday, happy birthday neil it's still the 19th here, i would do anything for him so i started writing, no beta we die, yes i love neil</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:41:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28871196</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarflowers/pseuds/interstellarflowers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times Neil learns to be platonically intimate with some of the foxes!! The one time he doesn't have to learn!!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kevin Day &amp; Neil Josten, Neil Josten &amp; Allison Reynolds, Neil Josten &amp; Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten &amp; Renee Walker, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>162</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>count my fingers, not the thumbs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy birthday Neil! Since art is nothing but a tool for complete and utter self-indulgence, I wrote this! </p><p>Tiny, tiny cw for mentions of torture! nothing bad I promise &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t that he was opposed to intimacy, it’s just that he didn’t know what to do when he was faced with it. Though he hadn’t needed that sort of closeness. Nonetheless, whenever he watched Renee put her arm around Nicky’s shoulder or Abby embrace Dan, he couldn’t help wonder what it was like to be so casual about those sorts of things. He thought that maybe it wasn’t unlike the times when he had praised someone during practice or celebrated their wins; just a simple show of affection. Either way, he became rigid whenever he was placed in such unfamiliar territory, not knowing what else to do until the moment had passed. Besides, the foxes just being there for him when he needed it most was more than he could’ve ever hoped for.</p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                                ♥️ ♡ ♥️  

</p><p>Despite the recent winter holiday break, he was exhausted. Nightly practices with Kevin had been going well, a bit too well if Neil’s mangled sleep schedule was anything to show for it. He and Kevin had been frequently losing track of time on the court; Andrew had seemed increasingly more drained and had opted out of taking his roommates to practice the previous few weeks. Without Andrew present to wrangle them back to the tower when it had gotten too late, Neil had often looked at his watch only to see that he and Kevin had been at it long enough to eat into their already-emaciated sleeping period. As reluctant as he was to stop playing, he could imagine the look Andrew would have given him when he realized Neil was unusually behind on his classes because of exy. </p><p>By the end of the week, Neil felt like he was swimming in molasses whilst the rest of the world sped by. It took exponentially more effort to pry himself out of bed each morning, and the dark circles under his eyes resembled a raccoon rather than a fox. Neil hoped no one saw the longing looks he shot every couch they passed by.</p><p>When Friday night rolled around, Neil had decided to opt-out of going to Columbia with Kevin and the cousins. He was still working out a way to convince Andrew to leave him behind when he caught him in their dorm alone. Neil figured that it would be best to tell him whilst no one was around and Andrew was more agreeable, so Neil could focus his energy on convincing Andrew that, no, Neil didn’t need constant supervision despite his past mishaps.</p><p>Neil stood by the open refrigerator, idle while Andrew carelessly pushed things aside. Neil privately thought that Andrew would’ve already known its contents after shuffling through it for the third time in the past half hour. When Andrew had decided their leftover takeout hadn’t changed in the past few minutes, he stepped back and shot a probably-unrelated accusatory glare at Neil, who was leaning on the closed door. Neil had stopped trying to guess why he was so frequently the target of Andrew’s ire and ignored his scowl.</p><p>“I don’t think I’m going to Columbia this weekend,” Neil said, trying to come off as casually as he could. </p><p>Andrew narrowed his eyes a little more. “Are you feeling okay?” </p><p>Neil was vaguely offended by the implication that he couldn’t take care of himself, but he went on. “It’s nothing, I just need to catch up on my homework,” he replied. If he let Andrew know how much he and Kevin needed him to keep them on schedule, he would probably start attending night practices regardless of how worn out he was feeling.</p><p>Andrew, however, was not placated by this. Impossibly, his eyes narrowed further. “Since when have you cared about your classes?” </p><p>That accusation meant nothing, coming from him. This conversation, Neil predicted, would not end with anyone going to Columbia without him. He tried to shove the topic in the right direction. “It’s okay, you should go without me. I know how much you’ve been looking forward to it.”</p><p>Andrew seemed unconvinced, but with him, it was always hard to tell. He looked like he was going to say something, but Neil interrupted, trying to steer him away from that train of thought. </p><p>“Andrew, I promise it will be fine. I don’t want to keep you from going to Eden’s,” he stressed, trying not to let a note of desperation show in his tone. </p><p>Andrew looked skeptical, almost like he was going to protest, but he looked Neil up and down and Neil saw the words die in his throat. He turned away from the fridge, and Neil knew he had won. </p><p>Neil had gone down to the car to see them off, and no one said anything about his lack of attire or even spared him another glance. He figured Andrew had said something, but he hadn’t heard anything despite being around the dorms all afternoon. While the others piled into the car, Andrew gave him another narrow-eyed, assessing glance. He looked like he was considering handcuffing Neil to himself if only so they would not be apart, so Neil glanced around to see if anyone was watching.</p><p>He couldn’t see anyone, so he said, “Yes or no?”</p><p>Andrew’s eyes practically rolled out of his head, but Neil didn’t miss his quiet “Yes, idiot”.</p><p>Neil gave him a quick, consolatory kiss and watched Andrew grumpily get into the driver’s seat.</p><p>On his way back to their room, Neil passed Dan, who was just closing the door to the girls’ room. She was probably going out with Matt, so Neil simply nodded to her in greeting and was going to unlock his door before she called his name.</p><p>“Would you like to watch a movie with me and Matt?” </p><p>Dan had probably seen the Maserati drive off without him and had felt bad. He didn’t want to interrupt Dan and Matt’s date just because he was alone at the Tower for a few hours. He shook his head. </p><p>“You and Matt should just enjoy the quiet while everyone is gone.” He knew how little time Matt and Dan had together before the girls graduated, and how much Matt would miss her. He was on the receiving end of Matt’s long-distance related stress, though he had never really had a way to aid his struggles until now. Neil wouldn’t let himself interrupt their plans.</p><p>Dan, on the other hand, seemed to have different ideas. She shook her head at him, seeming a bit exasperated. “We never spend time with you alone, I’m sure Matt won’t mind. If you don’t like the movie we chose you can pick,” she added. Before Neil could open his mouth she started again, more determined. “Unless you have something better to do, you don’t have a say in this.” </p><p>Neil found himself sitting next to Dan and Matt on the couch in his dorm. As the intro credits started, Dan patted the space between her and Neil, gesturing for him to scoot closer.</p><p>When he moved over, carefully letting their thighs touch, Dan deliberately dropped her hand from where it rested over the back of the couch to Neil’s side, squeezing him lightly against her. She didn’t say anything, just sent him an assessing glance to see if he was okay. </p><p>Dan had hugged him before, carefully, a loaded embrace after Baltimore. This felt different: still casual, but careful enough to show Dan’s uncertainty about making Neil uncomfortable. Surprisingly, she held him like she had known how tired he was; like she had wanted nothing more than for him to be okay. Neil gently laid his head on her shoulder and drifted off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of the TV. </p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                                ♥️ ♡ ♥️  

</p><p>As promised, Wymack had installed TVs on the bus. They were small, sparsely placed, the sound always a little too quiet and the fuzzy images were grainy and slow. Nonetheless, Kevin demanded Wymack played their opponents’ past games whenever they were heading to a match. Regardless of how he was feeling, Neil was always willing to analyze the small images with Kevin, arguing about counterplays and discussing the lineup. </p><p>Thus, he didn’t protest at all when Kevin looked at him expectantly until he slid into the seat next to him. Kevin, as usual, had plenty of rather scathing comments about their team, and even more about how the Foxes should defeat them. Neil, however, was busier fighting the haze of his fatigue than he was contemplating footwork, and Kevin soon picked up on his somewhat atypical lack of focus. </p><p>“Hello? Neil? Don’t you have anything to say about Robinson’s blind spot?”</p><p> Neil didn’t, but he did have something to say about the fact that Kevin sounded like a petulant brat, but his mind couldn’t form the words swiftly enough before Kevin pestered him again, sounding impossibly more displeased. </p><p>“Are you okay? Are you sick? If you’re sick you have to tell us, no more of this ‘I’m fine’ bullshit. You need to be in peak physical condition for the next game.”</p><p>“I’m not sick, Kevin,” Neil replied, his bleary anger shaking him out of his stupor. “I’m just a little tired.”</p><p>“Why aren’t you sleeping? You should not be wasting this valuable time.” Kevin glared at him until he closed his eyes, trying to force himself to sleep before he snapped at Kevin like he wanted to. He started counting in Spanish and drifted off before he got to the 50s. </p><p>Neil woke up when he felt the bus go over a rough patch on the highway, the seat jostling him up and down. He felt an arm carefully secure itself around his shoulder when the bus made a sharp movement before he could slide off the seat. His neck hurt from the odd angle, and he absently realized that he was resting his head on Kevin’s shoulder. </p><p>He was surprised that Kevin had even let him, that he didn’t instantly push Neil off or wake him up to tell him to move away. The closest thing Kevin had done to being even remotely affectionate was when he had awkwardly offered to discuss with Neil about his time in Evermore. Neil would be the first to say that, though insufferable at best and unbearable at worst, it was preferable when Kevin was just being himself, lest he tries for a moment to try to express anything other than outrage by putting up a badly cobbled-together front of gratitude. </p><p>Objectively, he knew Kevin cared about the foxes, though it was only noticeable if you read between the lines. Sometimes, Neil tried to remind himself that endlessly chiding people about their mistakes and asking inappropriate questions like whether or not Neil could play after being tortured was just Kevin’s way of showing he cared; the only way he knew how. Neil, who was admittedly also not great on this part, could confidently say he was better than Kevin in this area, but Andrew would probably tell him that martyrdom doesn’t count because of the distraught Neil had caused on multiple accounts. Neil would’ve said that Andrew should be the last person to have an opinion on the matter. </p><p>Kevin, by the way, still had his arm around Neil’s shoulder, Neil guessed he hadn’t noticed that he had woken up, but the hand around his shoulder felt awkward like Kevin couldn’t decide if he should remove it or not. Neil didn’t mind or care enough to tell him to leave him alone. He wished he had a better pillow, though, but he told himself Kevin’s boney shoulder would have to do for the time being and went back to sleep. </p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                                ♥️ ♡ ♥️  

</p><p>Though it had been three years since the girls had graduated, they still came to visit as often as they could, but it wasn’t as much as Neil had liked. Renee was frequently busy with PeaceCorps, and he spoke with her the least. She still instinctively made him uncomfortable, but Renee had grown on him and he had realized how important her infallible calm was, especially when he had become vice-captain a few years ago. </p><p>This month, Renee had a break over the long weekend and was coming to the states to stay with Allison. Though she didn’t have the time to see any of the other foxes, she planned her layover in Columbia so she could spend half a day at Palmetto. </p><p>Andrew had a game and wouldn’t be able to make it out to see her, and though she hadn’t said it, it was obvious she wanted to check in on Neil. Neil was grateful she had thought of him, he hadn’t seen any of his other foxes in a while and missed them more than he would’ve liked to admit. </p><p>Her flight arrived at eleven, but it would take him a while to get to the airport and through traffic, so he left a little earlier. </p><p>Renee gave him a little wave and made small talk in the car, which Neil found he didn’t mind as much as he thought he did. By the time they were halfway back to Palmetto, Neil was hungry and they decided to get lunch. Renee directed him to a cramped cafe that sold things like kettle-cooked potato chips and overpriced paninis. They ate their food at the little rustic looking tables outside, trying not to knock anything over when they reached for their drinks. </p><p>Renee caught him up on her current work projects, something jarringly noble that Neil could never really imagine any of the other foxes doing. He let her carry most of the conversation; she seemed to pick up on his reticence and stopped asking questions after his answers turned lackluster and brief. Neil was content to watch her speak, observing the way she pushed her hair behind her ear, the curl of her hands around an icy glass of lemonade, the almost smiling expression on her face, trying to commit her to memory. When this didn’t work, he let himself pretend that she wouldn’t have to leave soon, that they would just drive back to the rest of the foxes. </p><p>She probably sensed him slip into melancholy and stood up, taking her tray with her. “Why don’t we walk around before we drive back to Palmetto?” </p><p>Neil stood with her, wordlessly following her lead. They walked aimlessly until they found a crowded park. Upon further inspection, there seemed to be some kind of festival, the tented booths lining the path.</p><p>He watched Renee head in, but neither of them was tall enough to see each other over the crowd, and he quickly lost sight of her shiny hair, white, pink, and purple swallowed by shoulders and bobbing heads. </p><p>Deciding to try and follow her path, Neil somewhat frantically headed down the sidewalk until he spotted her head at an arts and crafts booth. Her eyes lit up when she saw him weave through the sea towards her. </p><p>“I lost you! While I was trying to find you, I saw this booth! Aren’t these so cute?” She gestured to the odd-looking collages made by children. That or Neil wasn’t a very good art critic. </p><p>He nodded nonetheless. “Do you want to make one with me?” She pulled out one of the grainy white plastic chairs, and Neil followed suit. Renee started tracing shapes onto colored paper and delegated the cutting to Neil. She was making a flower of some sort and glued down the shapes Neil had handed to her. When she finished, he added a small fox sticker to the corner and waited while Renee asked someone to take a picture of them with it. Neil was quietly impressed with their handiwork, but Renee decided not to keep it and let the staff hang it up at the booth. </p><p>“Is there anything you would like to do next?” she asked, stepping outside of the cabana.</p><p>He shook his head. </p><p>“I think there’s a baked goods booth somewhere, let’s go there.” She held out her hand, a question. “I don’t want to get separated from you again,” she added. </p><p>Neil knew what she had meant, but it felt like more. He hesitantly took her hand. </p><p>It was warm and firm, leading him down the path, through the throng of people. For a moment, Neil was reminded of his freshman year winter banquet, when he and Renee had gone as each other’s dates. He should’ve known that she meant no harm, but it was difficult to trust anyone he deemed a threat, including Andrew. </p><p>Speaking of which, Renee was holding up her phone, showing Neil the message thread where she had sent Andrew the picture of them with their collage. </p><p>Andrew’s message simply read, looks good, could’ve done without the sticker.</p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                                ♥️ ♡ ♥️  

</p><p> </p><p>		On Sundays during the girls’ fifth year at Palmetto, Neil and Alison usually went out together, if “going out together” meant being dragged along to things Neil didn’t understand like fancy brunch and window shopping. Neil would barely let Andrew buy him clothing, but Allison was a force to be reckoned with, and Neil could only hold out for so long. If he was being completely honest, Neil truly had no clear idea as to how she convinced him, but it was probably when he had needed something like new pants because of the cold weather, and no one else willing to go with him. Neil was going to go by himself, but Allison had slithered her way into his shopping trip and turned it from an errand into some sort of exciting get-together. She had since found excuses to spend time with him every weekend that they could, and they hadn’t stopped ever since. </p><p>He didn’t talk much with her, Allison’s topics ranging from pop culture to dramatically complaining about minor inconveniences, many of which Neil would never understand. At first, she tried to catch him up with her ramblings about the latest movie or Hollywood drama, but Allison had quickly realized that Neil was content with sitting quietly and wouldn’t understand the big deal with mainstream drama. Only if she begged hard enough, he would murmur scathing commentary about people they encountered and she would laugh, sweet and clear, like running water, and add on something that would make him suppress a smile. </p><p>As close as they were, the pair hadn’t spoken about anything serious, sort of the opposite of what he and Andrew did, and Neil was more than fine with it. He sort of appreciated her nonchalant apathy to Baltimore or any of the things Neil had been through, though he wasn’t a fan of anyone intruding on his non-relationship with Andrew. Nonetheless, her blasé careless front and apparent lack of sympathy were refreshing in contrast with the overwhelming concern of the other foxes. </p><p>It had been a year since she had graduated, and they hadn’t spent very much time together in person, not that there had been any real opportunities anyway. She liked to call him biweekly or so to catch up. She also demanded that they video call each other if Neil was picking an outfit for any mildly important event. Despite the major renovations to his wardrobe, Allison always claimed that his clothing selection was nothing less than atrocious, but Neil privately suspected it was a ruse to send him clothing or take him shopping. Her nagging and constant pleading to take him to the mall grew on him, and he never called her out of her excuses to spend time with him, virtual or in person. </p><p>In the first semester of his junior year, she returned to visit. Her team in LA didn’t have any games that weekend, and she was staying with Abby for a few days. Though Neil had plans, she showed up at his dorm at 1 in the afternoon and strapped him into her wildly expensive rental (that Andrew was definitely not ogling), and headed to their usual mall. </p><p>She hadn’t seemed as talkative as Neil had remembered her to be, but he decided that she was just tired from her busy schedule and was using the break to relax. If he had known how much she needed a break, he would’ve insisted they go do something more leisurely, like painting their nails in Matt, Aaron, and Nicky’s room with the windows closed to antagonize Aaron with the fumes.</p><p>After decisively turning down a lot of her favorite stores and barely blinking at the sparkling displays of designer handbags, Allison suggested they get ice cream. Neil, impartial to minor decisions like these, agreed without hesitation.</p><p>Neil only got a cup of vanilla, he wasn’t inclined to puzzle over frivolous flavors and wasn’t feeling hungry anyway. Allison got a monstrous waffle cone that Neil thought was priced far too much for ice cream, but he doubted someone like Andrew would be anything less than pleased with her order. They sat at one of the odd tables against a row of plants, Neil’s back to the divider, mostly out of habit.</p><p>After impressively finishing off the first of two scoops, Allison looked at Neil like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Neil regarded her patiently. </p><p>“It’s been two years since Riko killed him,” she started, never merciful with words, even to herself. It took him a second to figure out which “he” Allison was referring to, but Neil admired her straightforwardness. He admitted it was probably because it was a trait they shared; Neil never had time to pull any punches himself. </p><p>He waited for her to continue, but she had the almost-frustrated look on her face again. Despite being surrounded by death his whole life, Neil had never reacted to it normally. He lacked that sort of drawn out, motionless empathy; when his mother died he had no time for mourning, each death he witnessed was eclipsed by the drive to keep moving, his next move always more important than the last. Chances are, Allison didn’t want his sympathy. He didn’t know what to say, though, and he didn’t want to let the silence between them grow awkward. “I’m sorry,” he said. Neil didn’t know if he was apologizing because Seth had been collateral damage or because she was upset.</p><p>This she looked angry at. “Don’t apologize,” she said firmly, glaring at the table between them, “It’s not your fault.” </p><p>He waited for her to continue, and she seemed to grasp the words.</p><p>“I took a few days off because of his anniversary. I could’ve spent time with anyone, you know,” she spoke, almost like she was trying to guilt him into feeling sorry. Before he could reply, she added, “I don’t want anyone’s sympathy now. It makes me sick.” She wrinkled her nose for emphasis. “I knew you would be the best option. It would’ve been ironic if it was your fault.” She didn’t sound accusing this time, and Neil supposed it was the closest she’d get to explicitly saying she didn’t blame him. She didn’t look sad at all, mostly just annoyed with herself for her hesitant vulnerability. </p><p>Neil didn’t know what to say to make her feel less embarrassed, so he just said, “Okay.”</p><p>This, miraculously, seemed to work, for once. Allison sighed, like she was tired of herself, or maybe just tired of being in such a fragile situation. “Whatever, let’s go.” She stood, still working on her cone, which was reduced to half a scoop. </p><p>Neil ignored the almost nonsensical response and stood with his empty cup. He trailed her silently until she went to throw away the napkins they had gotten from their now nonexistent ice cream. When she turned, her eyes lit up.</p><p>A few feet away was an almost washed-out looking photo booth, the ones with the sticky floors and grainy photo strips. Allison must’ve known no one used them and how low the quality would be, but she pulled him through the cheap, velvety curtain anyway.</p><p>“So we can remember my visit!” she replied, though Neil hadn’t said anything.</p><p>After far too long of pushing random buttons to try and get their session to start, the giant “push to begin” button appeared on screen and Allison gave it a little clap. </p><p>She patted the small space next to her, Neil thought the booth was made for one person. He sat anyway. He was almost sitting in her lap though, and she wrapped a long arm around his waist and pulled him close, hitting the start button. </p><p>After the countdown got to one, there was a flash that was just a bit too bright, and then another, longer timer started. “Quick, Neil, make a silly face,” Allison urged hurriedly. Neil did not know exactly what a silly face constituted, but Allison pulled her eye down and stuck her tongue out, so Neil thought he would just go the easier looking route and also stuck his tongue out. The finished pictures only showed up in a tiny corner on the grainy screen, so Neil didn’t know how it turned out. </p><p>In the next picture, Allison wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled brightly, like she was having the most fun she’d ever had in her life. Neil tried to think of how he acted when he was having fun, but he didn’t think he smiled too much during exy games, so he tried his most friendly smile, and for a moment it was real.</p><p>During the last countdown, Allison turned to him and asked if she could kiss him on the cheek. Neil said he didn’t mind, but he was just surprised that she had even asked. Sometimes she did it when she greeted him the European way, but she told him that she mainly did it around strangers so she could seem “foreign and mysterious”. Neil thought she would get someone sick if she spent too much time around strangers.</p><p>When the timer got to one, she pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, though Neil could barely feel it. He didn’t really mind though, and he was just excited to see how the pictures turned out. He wanted to put his copy on the photo wall so he could see it when they went in for practice.</p><p>When they had printed, Allison handed a copy to him, not looking away from her pictures. The weird, rubbery photo material felt odd under his fingers, but the pictures had come out surprisingly well for such a cheap booth. He liked how close they seemed, and for a moment he was struck by the fact that they were that close. It was odd to not feel like he was putting on an act, even though Allison played up their intimacy for the photos. When he looked at them, he felt like people would understand how close they had grown. Allison looked equally as elated by them, and she stepped out from under the curtain and linked arms with Neil to the next store. </p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                                ♥️ ♡ ♥️ 

</p><p>If he was being honest, the stale plane air was giving him a headache. He hadn’t moved for a little less than five hours, and the couple next to him wouldn’t let him sleep, not that he felt comfortable enough to do it anyway. At least Andrew wouldn’t have to fly this time.</p><p>Neil didn't want to wait any longer to see him, but he was sitting in the middle of the plane - it might as well be the very end, considering how long it took him to get out. Andrew had said he should’ve booked first-class, but Neil thought it was a waste of money and essentially the same as flying coach. He could handle a 4 and a half hour flight in a mediocre seat, the benefits of first-class weren’t worth it. Watching the endless line to the door, though, Neil almost wished he had splurged on the seat. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand the cramped vehicle. </p><p>When he finally got off of the plane, he breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. His flight had been delayed by an hour or so, because of the unsafe landing conditions at their destination. He sort of liked how the snow looked out of the giant airport windows, though his freezing fingers could’ve been better. Neil absentmindedly wondered if an airport ever got above 60 degrees.</p><p>He had told Andrew to wait by the baggage claim instead of the terminal, it would be easier to meet up when it was less crowded. Andrew didn’t protest; he seemed happy to be as far away from the planes as he could be. </p><p>Despite Neil’s planning, the airport was as crowded as ever, even on a Wednesday. He knew the influx of people was probably inevitable, only being four days away from Christmas, but Neil wished he could get to the baggage claim a little quicker.</p><p>When he got to the baggage claim, their bags hadn’t arrived so he settled on looking for Andrew. It was sort of hard to see over everyone and much harder to see someone even shorter than him, but he caught a glimpse of blond hair between the throngs of tired travelers. </p><p>When he finally made it through the crowd, he could tell it was Andrew. He wasn’t sure if he’d hear, but Andrew turned around at his “Hey.”</p><p>He was impartial besides the slight relaxation of his shoulders. “Hey yourself,” he replied. </p><p>Neil didn’t know what to say, but Andrew seemed uncomfortable around so many people, so he decided it would be best to just wait in silence for his bags. When he had told him to wait at the baggage claim Andrew seemed sort of surprised, Neil wasn’t known for his heavy packing. He did bring a duffle, old habits die hard, but it was a relatively new one that he had bought after being bullied into getting a new one by several of the foxes a few years ago. Plus, he needed space for Andrew’s present, and Neil couldn’t be bothered to try to squish all of his items any tighter. He did bring a small backpack, but it was just to carry the overpriced sandwich he had bought for lunch. </p><p>When his bag had finally appeared, Andrew shouldered it before Neil could do react and started off. It was still a surprisingly long walk to the parking lot, and Neil walked swiftly beside Andrew. He seemed hasty to get back to the apartment, and the itch in his posture gave Neil the sneaking suspicion he wanted to do more than just say hello but didn’t trust the people around them to give them the privacy they wanted for their relationship.</p><p>Neil could commiserate. He hadn’t seen Andrew for a few months, and he wasn’t too fond of living alone. Andrew, he could tell, hated it. </p><p>An onslaught of people pressed them closer together, Neil let their shoulders brush. His hands were still really cold, but he would’ve asked even if they weren’t.</p><p>“Can I put my hand in your pocket?” Andrew seemed like he was going to point out that Neil had two, perfectly good, unoccupied coat pockets for warming up his hands, but he just nodded. Neil slipped his hand in, the soft cotton was surprisingly warm, considering how often Andrew was cold if his long sleeves and frequent layering was anything to go by. </p><p>Shoulders firmly pressed together, Neil laced their hands together, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that they were holding hands. Andrew hummed quietly, almost completely swallowed up by the chatter of the passing people around them. Neil squeezed his hand, and they stepped out of the airport towards the car.</p>
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